GILAS Pilipinas Youth survived a woeful shooting night to edge Southeast Asia neighbor Indonesia, 65-60, and pick up its first win in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Jolo Pascual knocked down a three from the left corner with 33.7 seconds left to give the Philippines some breathing space with a 63-57 lead. Prince Cariño also converted a follow-up after Ethan Tan-Chi missed two free throws to settle the final count.
Gilas Youth had to earn every basket in the match-up after going just 21-of-69 (30 percent) from the field including a 5-of-25 (20 percent) output from threes.
The Philippines still wound up victorious after Indonesia went 21-of-61 (34 percent) and 1-of-18 (6 percent) from three-point arc.
The game was in stark contest to the last time both teams meet when the Philippines routed Indonesia, 70-40, in the SEABA U16 Cup final in San Fernando, Pampanga last May.
Gilas boys bounce back
Gilas Youth opened the tournament with a 106-82 loss to Chinese Taipei last Sunday.
The Philippines will go up against Group B leader and unbeaten New Zealand (2-0) on Tuesday. The Junior Tall Blacks routed Chinese Taipei, 101-82, early in the day to stay undefeated.
Tan-Chi had 12 points and five rebounds, and Pascual had 11 points and five assists for Gilas Youth. Andwele Cabanero contributed 10 points, five rebounds, and four steals in the victory.
Brian Orca also had a notable performance after hauling 13 rebounds for the LA Tenorio-mentored Gilas Youth squad.
Gilas Youth trailed, 20-17, at the end of the first quarter, and 28-23 late in the second half before turning things around and took the lead at halftime, 36-30.
The scores:
Philippines 65 – Tan-Chi 12, J. Pascual 11, Cabanero 10, Lumague 9, Carino 6, T. Pascual 5, Orca 4, Hallare 4, Restificar 2, Cruz 1, Antolin 1, Delos Reyes 0.
Indonesia 60 – Firdaus 13, Christiano 13, Hernusi 8, Sebastian 7, Al Hadi 6, Kharisma 5, Naranatha 3, Yabe 3, Gilbert 2, Sasongko 0.
Quarters: 17-20; 36-30; 51-48; 65-60.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
